GoingTrueGreen's Blog Postings - Going True Green

PlayBack Program For Toys

1/18/2022

Mattel, PlayBack, PlayBack program, toys, Christmas, recycled toys, recycle, reuse, reduce, landfill, sustainability, plastics, copolymers, Mattel's PlayBack, bio-based, Dark Tower

Image of Toys from Mattel's Web Page

After Christmas and the holidays, many gifts have been exchanged, especially toys. From when I was young, I still have some board games and toys, such as Dark Tower and G. I. Joe. The remaining toys that I had, I gave to others to enjoy and play. I did this via family, friends, church and charities. However, the bulk of most toys in this world still end up in landfills.

One positive action to stop the flow of toys to landfill came about almost one year ago when Mattel announced a new program called PlayBack. By 2030 the company wants to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials for all their toys and packages.

So to start, they are operating a program that will take back Barbie, Matchbox and Mega toys for recycling. This way, materials can be used again in making new toys, for another generation of kids.

Grown up kids and parents who know that a toy has been played with and is now ready to be passed on to another child to love, can do so directly themselves as I did in the past, or visit Mattel's PlayBack program. (Link provided)
All you have to do is fill out the form, pack up the toys and Mattel pays for the shipping fees back to them.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

Sustainable Living Art by Saving Fabric

12/18/2021

Bonnie Barbera, Scrooge, fabric, fabric stash, quilts, art quilts, quilter, quilters, sustainable, saving fabric scraps, cotton, denim, silk, going true green, muslin

Quilt work section in progress by Bonnie Barbera

We all have a talent, gift and/or kind soul. Sad and true that some people never realize this fact and perhaps stay as a Ebeneezer Scrooge for life. Additionally, we all cannot do everything to help save the world. Whatever our forte may be, that is what we can concentrate on to make a difference.

Allow me to share with you an extraordinary attainment by a very modest woman named Bonnie B. Barbera who is a quilter. She makes bed quilts and everyday items from leftover pieces of material. These same leftover tiny pieces of fabric also become her palette for the creation of her Art Quilts. From “scraps” of material, that you and I would throw away, Bonnie creates art masterpieces.

These beautiful art quilts start with saving and maintaining a fabric stash. I saw multiple colors stored in bins, all from scraps of material. I was impressed. When I asked Bonnie about the task to collect and sort, Bonnie’s answer was a modest one.

“A fabric ‘stash’ is a practice that is certainly common for many, many, quilters. Patchwork quilts have been made for hundreds of years out of saved scraps. As you can see, I store each color range in separate bins.”

Sustainable Living circled in my head as I viewed this amazing artist’s studio where she worked. I then asked Bonnie about the art quilts she was currently working on and she explained by saying, “The art quilts that I’ve done incorporate fabric collage, raw edge appliqué and free-motion quilting. I use bits and scraps of cotton, denim, silk and other fabric blends that I have saved from all of my more utilitarian quilt projects over the last 9 years. I try very hard not to purchase any new fabrics (with the exception of small amounts of white muslin when I absolutely need pure white). I always try very hard to make what I have on hand work. If I can't find the color I need in my stash, I'll take two or more scraps that once combined, will produce the color effect that I seek.”

The following three images show the process of making an art quilt and Bonnie describes the process as follows:

“A quilt has thee layers - Top, Batting and Bottom. The part that is shown pinned together is the top layer. After I pin the image, I sew down all of the tiny pieces on the sewing machine to secure them. That is not the only time I sew the image. I then ‘sandwich’ the top with two layers of batting beneath that, and a backing layer of cotton for the bottom layer. Once that sandwich is pinned securely, I then machine-quilt through all of the layers in a way that enhances the depth of the piece and provides texture where I want it. Finally the quilt edges are bound.”

Bonnie is making quilts, art work and a difference with her talent that holds a sustainable element. Would it not be wonderful, if Christmas morning, we all found our sustainable talent under the tree?

For more of Bonnie’s work, she can be reached at her Instagram Link:
https://www.Instagram.com/bonnie.b.Barbera/
Merry Christmas everyone!

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

The Rain Collection

7/28/2021

rain barrel, rain collection, save water, water, storm water, cisterns, Bermuda, water collection, water bill, groundwater, alternative water supply, rain barrels, sustainable living, drinkable water, economist, Thomas Malthus, rainwater, rainwater capture, rain basins, gardens

Rain Collection with Rock Look

Our world's supply of clean drinkable water is not increasing, yet the number of humans living on our planet is growing. (Some have estimated that our supply of clean drinkable water is less than 1% of all the water on Earth.)

I have recently heard some very well educated and well-to-do people express the view of economist Thomas Malthus who argued that the continued increases in the world's population would overtake the development of sufficient crops and drinkable water, thus diminishing our ability to sustain ourselves. Mr. Malthus lived 1766 to 1834 and as for the people of today expressing this argument, I disagree 100%. Mr. Malthus was wrong with his doomsday outlook then and those claiming the same today are also wrong.

Are these people stating this chilling statement today suggesting that the recommendation made by Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, should be implemented?

As a reminder, Scrooge is visited by two benefactors wishing to collect provision for the destitute at Christmas time. Scrooge angrily replies that prisons and workhouses are the only institutions he is willing to support. One of the benefactors states that many can’t go there; and many would rather die. Scrooge then takes the Malthusian view to another level by claiming that the poor and ill are surplus to the needs of society and if they would rather die, they’d better do it, and decrease the surplus population.

Later in the novel A Christmas Carol, Scrooge's own words are used against him by asking if he will get to decide who lives or dies? No human has that right over another human.

Additionally, the nay sayers harboring this pessimistic prediction are wrong because they omit the ingenuity of free men and women. They are wrong because they have no faith in humankind coming together as one team to find another way, like we have done time after time. Additionally, they are fearful of this doomsday outcome, because in my opinion, they are most likely Godless.

Having a collection, a Rain Collection, is the most valued collection we can have. Water Is Our Most Precious Commodity and by clicking on those words highlighting the title of our on-line Water class for all GTG members, more info on our membership page will open. So what do I see that makes me believe in a positive outcome with our drinking water supply?

For years I have been collecting rainwater off my roof to reduce my water use outside. People all over the world are using systems to collect rain water that are centuries old. The Island of Bermuda probably leads the world in collecting rain water off rooftops and not just for outside use, but also for drinking.

I have rain barrels, but more and more people are setting up cistern systems for an alternative supply of water. This reduces the use of groundwater, reduces storm water run off that will reduce litter entering our sewers that go directly to our waterways and reduces our water bills. When collected off a slate roof, the collected rain water can be used to wash off outdoor items, such as chairs or a car. When rain water is filtered and distilled properly from a well maintained slate roof and cistern system that has regular tests checking for bacteria, then washing clothes, showering, and drinking becomes possible.

With additional water supplies, gardens abound creating an increase in food access. Neighborhood carbon footprints are reduced as all people come together to share, promote, educate in the areas of health, nutrition and growing crops. Rain basins, rainwater capture and new water infrastructures utilizing new techniques or old, help our environment. Homeowners can save thousands of gallons of water each year. I have 4 barrels holding a total of 225 gallons of water and they are filled at least 7 times per year. That is approximately 1,575 gallons of water saved per year, just by me. So yes, Mr. Malthusian, Mr. Scrooge and some powerful people of today, your predictions have been and will still be proven wrong just as long as humankind has faith and is free.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

Future Communications with Going True Green

1/27/2021

YouTube, FaceTime, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, communication, sustainability, going green, effective communication, social media, conglomerate

Bye Bye

We have been studying the different ways Going True Green has been communicating over recent years and the following results are being presented in order to notify every one of the changes that we will be making over the coming weeks.

Going True Green will no longer be using several Social Media platforms, because they have not produced effective and productive communications between GTG and a Follower, Visitor, Friend, Client or GTG Lifetime Member.

In fact, we have seen that the most productive and effective communication we have with anyone, has been and still is through Electronic Mail. Yes, Email is what everyone uses to seriously communicate with us. Let the subject be on suggestions, comments, questions, specific inquires, sharing information, school projects, speaking engagements, energy audits, sustainability classes or GTG Lifetime membership.

We still have email communication with followers and members of our original websites: the LightBulbHotline and EnergyHotwire, to this day. This goes back to when in the mid 1990s we said, “We are on the Web! Visit us and here is our email address.” At that time we received several confused looks, followed by queries on how to visit our website. At the start we had everything on our website, as we still do today. Last year we closed our YouTube account after placing all our videos on our GTG Website in the GTG Lifetime Members section. Here we provide our Quick Videos and Online Classes without constant commercial interruption.

The Bottom Line is the fact that productive and effective communication is not found with an Emoji, a Like or a Following just to see a video short or photograph. To accomplish anything we all must first Read, then Listen, then Communicate with facts, so we can implement solutions as one team.

So we say Goodbye to YouTube, FaceTime, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Our time is far better spent communicating directly with you, instead of trying to catch a fleeting attention span with an entertaining photo or video. We are here to share the complete picture, all the facts, so that we the people can make a difference. One person at a time and as a conglomerate of one team.

Please consider joining our email list if you have not already joined. We only send out one to four emails per Year. Please use our Link Here. If you sign up for our emails with MailChimp, (appears at bottom of our Homepage) they will send a reminder email once a month.

Additionally, look into being a Lifetime Member with the GTG Membership Link at the top of this page. Most of all, just visit our GoingTrueGreen Website and Blog once a month to see what is new with saving Money, Energy, Health and Earth, so to live a more sustainable life without sacrifice. - Thank you.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

Sabotaged Recycling

9/18/2020

Recycle, recycling, sabotage, plastic, plastic bottles, recycling program, waste, glass, paper, trees, sorting, China, Townships, going green, going true green, sustainability, sustainable living

Sabotage Handbook

Earth Log, 1970s
Query:
Why don’t all Townships implement a recycling program?

Answer:
You will see recycling everywhere, once someone figures out how to make money from the process.

Earth Log, 1980s
Someone did and recycling started in earnest through the 1980s.
So in the beginning we were instructed to do the following when recycling…

Wash or rinse out all cans, glass and plastic bottles
Remove the paper labels from all cans, glass and plastic bottles
Recycle paper labels with newspapers and paper mail tied together with cord
Separate aluminum, glass and plastic in appropriate bins

Earth Log, 1990s
Then an anomaly occurred.

Many people in America were not rinsing out anything nor were they removing paper labels. However, they were still sorting.

Jars can’t be recycled with peanut butter at the bottom and plastic bottles can’t be recycled with paper labels still on them. The tolerance level was reaching the highest saturation percentage for the ratio of paper to plastic and food contamination to container.

So instead of “rewarding” the people for recycling correctly, the Townships didn’t re-educate the public, they threaten the public with punishment for not complying. No education or explanation given, just warnings and possible fines for not complying.

Earth Log, 2000s
China was now buying the bulk of America’s recycling inventory.
Many Townships change strategy to make more money…
Let the people recycle contaminated items and tough on China.
After all, many Townships concluded, people are lazy and don’t care. People will recycle more if they no longer had to rinse or sort. Again this would mean tough on China and more money for politicians.

Earth Log, 2010s
China communicates to the U.S. in 2012, that the paper labels on all the new plastic water bottles is at a 10% level of contamination and needs to drop to 1.5%. China is now purchasing two-thirds of America’s recyclable scrap, according to a 2011 report from the Institute of Scrap Recyclers (ISRI). The same holds true for food waste on aluminum, plastic containers, and cardboard.
Manufacturers step in to help with replacing paper labels on plastic water bottles with plastic labels and reducing the amount of plastic in every water bottle. Thus, making them weight less and hold a lower monetize value.

Most American Recycling no longer required:

Rinsing out cans, glass and plastic bottles
Removing the paper labels from all cans, glass and plastic bottles
Sorting of any kind

Earth Log, 2020
China stopped buying America’s contaminated recyclable scrap.
Many Townships no longer accept plastic above the number two.
Many Townships no longer accept glass bottles! Glass was one of the first items ever to be recycled and is now thrown into Landfills.

Recycle, recycling, sabotage, plastic, plastic bottles, recycling program, waste, glass, paper, trees, sorting, China, Townships, going green, going true green, sustainability, sustainable living

America's Unwanted Recyclable Scrap

America’s recycling scrap is piling up in warehouses and parking lots.

Sad state of affairs. We did this to ourselves because of greed.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

I Don't Think So Bill

8/29/2020

Bill, say it ain't so!
Don't jump to assumptions! This isn't my car. This "bad boy" as Tim Allen would say on his old TV show, Home Improvement, belongs to my neighbor who is also named Bill.

Tim Allen, Richard Karn, Home Improvement, fixing things, repairing, the three Rs, going green, going true green, golf pros, history channel, recycle, reduce, repair, redone, tesla, solar panels, environment, sustainable living

Bill, is a Golf Pro, and has been fixing up this "bad boy" over the years in his spare time. Just a few more tweaks and he will be completely done. Mr. Allen, always admires people who repair something instead of replacing it. So do I, even if I would not own a car like this due to the gas mileage, I admire my neighbor for fixing, caring and only driving this 8 cylinder craftsmanship for a reason. For me, I am still saving up for a Tesla car so that I can charge up that "bad boy" with my solar panels!

Tim Allen and Richard Karn are about to start a new competition show with @HISTORY to challenge the people who love to fix up stuff, instead of filling up another Landfill. If Mr. Karn saw me with this car and knew my background, I would hear him say another Home Improvement favorite line... "I don't think so Bill" - I took the liberty to change the last word.

Perhaps my neighbor Bill can enter his car, but I will also be entering many items that I have fixed up. As a U.S. patent holder and inventor, I have made many things from spare items collecting dust and improvised to save old antiques over the years. All of which has helped to save money, energy, and our environment! So stay tune, this will get interesting!

P.S. I think a 0 to 60 test will have me come out ahead with a Tesla.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

Grandpa's Wood Hangers

2/13/2020

FTC Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate Ad link below and GTG will be compensated if a purchase is made after clicking the link. Thank you.

hangers, wooden hangers, plastic, plastic hangers, waste, garbage, sustainable Living, going green, goingtruegreen, hangers, grandfathers, cotton, wool, garment district, reduce, reuse, recycle

70 Year Old Wood Hangers Still Working

I only had one grandfather in my life when growing up. I never knew my grandfather who was killed in an accident on a loading dock for a World War Two supply ship. The other day I thought of both of them as I reviewed my clothes in the closet. I have been Reducing and Reusing over the years and I make sure that a great deal of my clothes are made of 100% cotton or wool. See my previous GTG Blog post called:
All I Want for Christmas is Cotton and Wool

This time while going through my closet, I noticed something else I have been reusing: My grandfather's hangers made of wood. The grandfather, that I was fortunate to have in my life when young, was a tailor and worked in New York City's Garment District. When the Garment district started its transition and the demand for my grandfather's talent was replaced with overseas manufacturing, the company he worked for eventually went out of business. When he saw the company throwing away all the suit hangers, he took home as many as he could. These hangers were made in the 1950s and I am still using them. I inherited some of those hangers and I proudly use them instead of any plastic hanger made today which could never perform to the same caliber as my grandfather's hangers that he saved from a landfill.

waste, garbage, sustainable Living, going green, goingtruegreen, hangers, grandfathers, cotton, wool, garment district, reduce, reuse, recycle

Curbside Garbage That Is Not Garbage

Sure over the years one or two broke, but I improvised and fixed them. I took the time to think of a way to repair them and spent the time fixing them instead of subscribing to be a member of the "throw away" society. Many times I see items by the curb for garbage pickup that are still in good working order. So many people just don't take the time, 3 to 5 minutes in reality, to make a phone call for someone else to use the items they are throwing away. One phone call to your church, community center or one of the dozens of charities that will pickup items from furniture to dishes, takes but a few minutes and others will be so grateful.

I realize the many faults of my own, even with me having less clothes now, I still have more clothes than my grandfather did. I know, because I remember cleaning out his armoire after he passed-over. I donated his hand-made suits and clothes. However, I kept the wooden hangers he was using and added them to the few he had given me many years before.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

Tree Top Garbage

12/5/2019

Plastic Clouds, Bill Lauto, microscopic plastic, BPA, PS, oligomer, bisphenol A, molecular bond, pollution, plastics, petroleum, plastic islands, plastic in beer, plastic in air

Tree Top Garbage

Tree Top Garbage
by Bill Lauto

There it shall stay,
until it erodes away.
Let loose by humankind,
into our air & out of mind.
Innocently caught by a tree,
until it’s digested by you and me.

If the garbage is some kind of foam, plastic or any other very slow degradable product made by humankind, the key word or the upsetting word in the poem above is digested. Litter, such as plastic, is made from petroleum. The official name is polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. When organic material, such as grass or an apple, is exposed to the elements of nature or buried, bacteria breaks down the item into the original compounds that formed the organic element. This biodegradation process doesn't occur on plastic in the same way or period of time.

Studies have shown that UV light will break the molecular bonds holding plastic together so that item can break down into smaller pieces. And smaller and smaller and smaller pieces. Nevertheless, there are problems because buried plastic in landfills are in a place where the sun doesn't shine and when plastic does break down into smaller pieces, this is proving to be a very serious problem.

First let us review what we all know: Plastic is building up in our oceans, especially the Pacific ocean. Humankind's plastic shopping bags, water bottles, take out containers, soda bottles, product packages and six-pack plastic rings are bathing in sunlight as they float in our oceans and waterways. The UV rays will eventually break down that plastic into smaller pieces. Ten years ago, a study from Nihon University in Chiba, Japan, discovered that plastic in our oceans can start to degrade within one year. Thus, creating smaller and smaller pieces.

BREAKING PLASTIC DOWN INTO SMALLER PIECES IS BECOMING A MAJOR WORLD WIDE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM

These smaller pieces of plastic are not natural. They are made of bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer. These are carcinogens and these toxic chemicals end up in the bellies of fish and perhaps evaporate into our air. So let us continue with that natural process of the rain cycle...
After Evaporation is Condensation and finally Precipitation, allowing these chemicals to settle on the land and crops. Animals eat the chemicals and humankind eats the fish, the animals and the crops!

I am now asking everyone who is perusing this GoingTrueGreen blog post to also revisit or read for the first time, these two previous posts:

Plastic Water, Air and Food (12/27/2017)

Plastic Clouds (03/19/2019)

As for all of us, may I suggest that we be extra mindful this time of year with the Christmas and holiday wrappings, boxes filled with shipping material and plastic waste.

GoingTrueGreen.com is teaching the complete picture for saving money, energy, our Earth and our health - Not teaching poetry.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

Roadside Litter

6/10/2019

litter, litterbugs, pollution, garbage, water bottles, plastic,

We are Infested with Litter Bugs

When will this type of littering stop? One of the largest areas where litter accumulates is a street corner by a red light or stop sign. Especially the street corners at the end of a highway's Off Ramp.

We have an infestation of Litter Bugs and they seem to have an urge to void themselves of all unwanted items after a drive on a highway by tossing them out the car window. From cigarette butts to water bottles and cups we see them piling up and clogging sewer grates.

cigarettes, cigarette butts, litter, litterbugs, pollution, garbage, water bottles, plastic

Cigarette Butt Litter

What these Litter Bugs don't realize is that everything you throw out your car window, even a piece of dental floss, will eventually find its way down the sewer and into our water ways. That means our rivers and oceans. If anyone has gone swimming and a long brownish-gray string came across your face, that is not seaweed, that was someone's used dental floss. More drastic is the fact that fish eat what is in the oceans that we polluted and we eat fish. We are our worst enemy.

Now, since I do not wish to "Be A Triple C" person, that is someone who Constantly Complains and Criticizes. I will also present solutions, because a Triple C person never accomplishes anything and they never help to find solutions or solve a problem. Sadly the majority of our politicians are Triple C people.

Nevertheless, we the individual are the solution and what we need to talk about with our townships is the installation of cameras at the various street corners that have a large volume of litter. The cameras should be relatively easy to move from one location to another when deemed appropriate and should be used to catch people tossing anything out their car windows. License plate numbers will be recorded and a summons mailed to the owner of the car. This money can then be used to clean the litter and our oceans. All without raising taxes.

Don't Be A Triple C and don't be a Litter Bug.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

Homemade!

5/28/2019

compost, topsoil, fertilizer, growing food, going green, sustainable living, goingtruegreen, saving money,

Homemade Compost!

I have been cooking my own compost all winter and I opened one of my two bins this weekend to find about 400 pounds of enriched topsoil, aka fertilizer.

Immediately I placed some around my grape vines, fig tree, blueberry bushes, flowers and food garden. End results, I am saving MONEY big time. What I created in my compost bin was equivalent to about 12 topsoil bags from the store weighing 40 pounds each. Additionally, since my soil is enriched with nutrients, I didn't have to buy any fertilizer either.

Composting can be done on a kitchen counter, apartment building roof tops, back yards or balcony. We need to stop buying a "bill of goods" when we can make enriched topsoil for free. Here is the RECIPE:

First make your own compost bin or buy one of many designs and sizes. I recommend a bin with a lid that locks to keep out animals. Next, place the following ingredients into your compost bin, but never more than two (2) inches high of the same element.

Scraps and remains of fruits
Scraps and remains of vegetables
Add trimmed plant life, but NO diseased plants or flowering weeds
Add grass clippings like the way you use salt and pepper, but grass is not necessary
Add leaves every now and then, but avoid twigs from tree branches
Coffee grinds and paper coffee filters are great to add into the mix each day

Never compost Meat, Dairy, Fish, Bones, Cheese, Oil, Fats, Diseased Plants, Coal, Cat Litter, Plastics, Ash and Paper with Ink or print.

In about 10 weeks the finished product will be nutrient rich top soil that will nourish plants and keep weeds from growing. So look into cooking your own batch this year.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!

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